Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) Stock Price

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $35.00 to $31.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.45% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on ZG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore set a $40.00 target price on shares of Zillow Group and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Zillow Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.19.

Zillow Group Trading Up 0.6%

ZG opened at $28.85 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $32.75 and a 200-day moving average of $35.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 2.02. Zillow Group has a 1-year low of $27.25 and a 1-year high of $76.32.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $772.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.25 million. Zillow Group had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 2.32%. Zillow Group’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Zillow Group will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Zillow Group news, Director Erik C. Blachford sold 792 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.71, for a total transaction of $28,282.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,160 shares in the company, valued at $1,219,853.60. This trade represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 9,339 shares of Zillow Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $319,207.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 138,574 shares in the company, valued at $4,736,459.32. The trade was a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,539 shares of company stock valued at $1,323,800. 29.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zillow Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ZG. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Zillow Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $22,560,872,000. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its position in Zillow Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,024,556 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $138,135,000 after acquiring an additional 21,862 shares during the period. Technology Crossover Management XI Ltd. acquired a new position in Zillow Group during the second quarter worth $73,694,895. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Zillow Group by 18.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 554,460 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $22,947,000 after acquiring an additional 85,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Zillow Group by 106.6% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 176,052 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,287,000 after acquiring an additional 90,858 shares in the last quarter. 20.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zillow Group Company Profile

Zillow Group, Inc is a digital real estate company that operates online marketplaces and technology platforms designed to help consumers buy, sell, rent and finance homes. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company serves the U.S. residential real estate market through a portfolio of well-known brands.

Its flagship Zillow platform provides home listings, property information, estimated home values through its Zestimate tool, rental listings, mortgage resources and connections to real estate professionals.